NJPW G1 Climax 27 7/27 Block B Recap by Jason Harland

After the two previous G1 shows that were quite lame, today's show delivered the goods! Match of the year candidate contained herein!

Ren Narita & Shota Umino vs. El Desperado & Zack Saber Jr.

El Desperado taps out Narita with a muffler submission.

My Take:

Is it just me, or does “Ren Narita” sound like the name of a Star Wars character? Umino got in some good offense against Zack. I think we all knew Narita was eating the loss in this one, but even he got in a little bit of offense and looked good for a Young Lion in this match.

Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe vs. Hirai Kawato & Yuji Nagata

Taguchi taps out Kawato with an ankle lock.

My Take:

Another match where the young lion got in some good offense and looked good, despite the loss.

I’d have been shocked if anyone but Finlay ate the loss in this one. At least this match was short, as it wasn’t very good.

– G1 Climax Block B matches –

Juice Robinson vs. Tama Tonga

Tama Tonga pins Juice with the Gun Stun.

Match Highlights:

Tama Tonga kicks out of a reverse DDT at 2

Juice kicks out of the Tongan Twist at 2

Juice kicks out of the headshrinker DDT at 2.5

My Take:

Tama Tonga went after Juice’s leg the entire match. Tama Tonga also went for like 50 Gun Stuns before he finally hit one to win the match. A short match, I just wish it was shorter as I had no interest in this whatsoever.

Toru Yano vs. Sanada

Sanada beats Yano at his own game, hog-tying him with athletic tape on the entrance ramp and winning by count-out.

My Take:

Another fucking Yano match. The turnbuckle pad comes off. Yano goes for athletic tape. Yano attempts 50,000 roll-up pins. At least he lost and got a taste of his own medicine in this one. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not a fan of comedy matches in the G1 proper. Yano’s antics would be fine on the undercard, but his matches cheapen the hell out of the tournament itself.

Minoru Suzuki vs. EVIL

EVIL counters a Gotch-style piledriver attempt with an STO and pins Suzuki.

Match Highlights:

Suzuki brawls with EVIL through the crowd and hits him with 3 different chairs.

EVIL wraps a chair around Suzuki’s neck then uses a second chair like a baseball bat, swinging it and hitting the chair off of Suzuki’s head.

Interference City! Bushi takes out El Desperado, but then Taichi hits the ring and nails EVIL with a chair. Hiromu comes running out of the back to dispatch Taichi.

My Take:

I wasn’t expecting EVIL to win. This was a fun match, especially due to the interference of both factions. A technical classic, no, but it was one hell of a brawl!

Kazuchika Okada vs. Satoshi Kojima

Tombstone Piledriver. Rainmaker. Okada wins by pinfall.

Match Highlights:

Okada hits a guardrail-assisted DDT on Kojima on the floor at ringside.

Tenzan tries to interject himself into the match. The fans chant his name, but Red Shoes manages to get him back outside the ring.

Kojima clotheslines Okada off of the top turnbuckle, down to the floor on the outside of the ring!

Okada kicks out of an Avalanche Koji-cutter at 2

Okada kicks out of a brainbuster at 2.5

Kojima counters a Rainmaker attempt with a Cozy-Lariat of his own. He goes for the pin, but Okada kicks out at 2.5

My Take:

Fans were solidly behind Kojima in this one, and at points Okada actually egged the crowd on to cheer for Kojima. This was a fun match to see Okada work heel. He and Tanahashi both tend to have their best matches when they work heel. Kojima really made you get behind him and feel he had a chance to win.

Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega

Elgin pins Omega with a Burning Hammer!

Match Highlights:

Elgin tosses Omega around with a Belly to Belly overhead suplex on the floor at ringside.

Omega kicks out of a Black Hole Slam at 2.5

Omega sends Elgin to the outside with a snap dragon suplex and follows up with a tope con giro dive.

Elgin kicks out of a missile dropkick form the top turnbuckle at 2

Omega hits the cross-legged Ushigoroshi on Elgin.

Omega kicks out of a lariat at 2

Elgin counters a One Wing Angel attempt into a reverse-rana. Elgin follows up with a lariat and a sit-out powerbomb, but Omega kicks out at 2.5

Elgin hits a sit-out powerbomb on Omega on the ring apron

Elgin kicks out of an Avalanche Frankensteiner at 2

Elgin kicks out of a Bomaye at 2.5

Elgin kicks out of a Brainbuster at 2.8

Omega hits a Reverse-rana followed by a V-Trigger. Elgin kicks out at 2.9

Omega kicks out an Elgin bomb at 2.99!

Omega hits 2 consecutive backdrops on Omega, but Omega manages to kick out at 2.9

My Take:

This was so f---ing great! Elgin looked Amazing! It was great to see him with with a move that wasn’t the Elgin Bomb, and even better to see him win with a burning hammer! Match of the year candidate here!

Overall Take:

This was a welcome change from how lame the past 2 shows were. Definitely check out the main event, though most of the other G1 matches tonight were fun in their own way to watch too. Elgin & Omega’s event define perfectly the G1 and what a G1 main event should be!